It began life in a college dorm room (well, technically it was 2,700 years ago, but we’ll get to that later), gained a multi-million army on TikTok, and earned a real-world record deal.
Now Hollywood is calling.
Epic, the musical telling of Homer’s The Odyssey, is getting the movie treatment thanks to Jerry Bruckheimer.
Bruckheimer, the mega-producer behind the Top Gun and The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, has partnered with Jorge Rivera-Herrans, the creator, composer, songwriter, producer, and performer behind the viral sensation, and Atlantic Music Group president Kevin Weaver to produce an animated musical adaptation of the epic, no pun intended, saga. Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films will also produce.
The project is in the nascent stages, and is to be taken out to studios and streamers for presentations by CAA, who represents Bruckheimer, possibly as early as next week. The project would be Bruckheimer’s first foray into animation but not into the world of music. Many of his films have been musically-inclined and part of pop culture’s soundtrack, going back to 1980s classic Flashdance.
The timing couldn’t be better as Homer has suddenly become hot in Hollywood. Christopher Nolan is prepping for a retelling of The Odyssey with his all-star live-action feature that will open July 17 and is already generating buzz that it could be one of the biggest movies of the year. Combined with the feverish following Epic has engendered, this tale is probably at the zenith of recognition not seen since the ancient Greek poet first began narrating it in his toga in the eighth century B.C.
Rivera-Herrans began Epic as his ambitious senior thesis at University at Notre Dame. Things took off when, during the pandemic, he began posting his creative process on TikTok in 2021, then began releasing the sagas as musicals starting in 2022. The self-released EPs began hitting the no. 1 spot on iTunes and then no. 1 on the soundtrack charts, where at one point Epic occupied nine out of the top 10 listings.
The serialized music format, re-envisioning the classic tale of the war hero’s gods and monsters-filled decades-long journey home to his wife and son through a modern, immersive lens, struck a chord with millennials and Gen Zers, who fell for the influences of musicals, anime and video games. They even got to participate in the worldwide casting process. Fans also created animatics to go with the songs, showcasing a range of styles and genres.
More than four billion global streams and over seven billion short-form views later, what began as viral social content evolved into a global phenomenon, redefining how music, storytelling, and audience engagement can intersect at scale.
The music industry came calling, with every label courting him in 2023, although Rivera-Herrans rebuffed rich offers. That is, until he signed with Weaver’s Atlantic, who spent two years courting the twenty-something. Weaver, whose three-decade career at the company saw him spearhead blockbuster soundtrack projects including Barbie the Album, The Greatest Showman and Suicide Squad: The Album, helped steer Epic from the digital sea and into the shores of the real world, with physical product and merchandizing, racking up millions of dollars from an eager fanbase.
Bruckheimer’s boarding was eased by the fact that Weaver worked with the producer on last year’s F1 The Album, based on F1, the Brad Pitt racing movie that earned an Oscar nomination for best picture and won one for best sound. The movie grossed over $634 million worldwide.
Rivera-Herrans is repped by Jake Phillips of Greenberg Traurig. Weaver is repped by Alan Sacks of Frankfurt Kurnit.
